Exploring the Meaning of Laleo in Greek

λαλέω is a Greek verb meaning “to speak.” In the passages quoted here, it ranges from ordinary conversation to public teaching, courtroom testimony, and speech restored by healing.

Occurrences

Matthew 9:18 — “While he told these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.””

Speech here is the ruler’s direct appeal. The speaking is framed as an act of approach and request: he “came and worshiped him, saying,” and the content of what is spoken is a plea anchored in hope for life. The verb marks the moment the man’s belief and urgency take verbal form.

Matthew 9:33 — “When the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke. The multitudes marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!””

In this scene, speaking functions as a visible sign of change: a man who had been “mute” now “spoke.” The new ability to speak becomes evidence the crowd can observe, and it provokes a second layer of speech—public reaction—since “the multitudes marveled, saying” their astonishment aloud.

Matthew 10:19 — “But when they deliver you up, don’t be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say.”

Speaking is anticipated under pressure, in the setting of being “deliver[ed]…up.” The verb is tied not to casual conversation but to a moment requiring words before others, where both the manner (“how”) and the content (“what”) of speech could be a source of fear. The promise centers on speech being supplied “in that hour,” emphasizing timely provision of the words themselves.

Matthew 10:20 — “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”

Here speaking is attributed to an inner source beyond the human speaker: “not you who speak,” but “the Spirit of your Father.” The same action—speaking—occurs, but agency is reassigned. The verb thus carries a claim about whose voice is operative when disciples must give utterance.

Matthew 12:22 — “Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.”

Speaking is paired with sight as a restored capacity. The man is described as “blind and mute,” and healing results in a full reversal: he “both spoke and saw.” The verb therefore marks a regained human function, presented as part of a comprehensive healing that affects communication and perception together.

Matthew 12:34 — “You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

Speaking is evaluated morally and diagnostically. The question, “how can you…speak good things?” treats speech as an expression that should correspond to one’s inner state. The explanatory line grounds spoken output in an internal source: “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” The verb thus connects speech to character and to what fills the heart.

Matthew 12:36 — “I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”

Here the act of speaking is brought into the sphere of accountability. Speech is not only expressive but also recordable and answerable: “every idle word that men speak” becomes the basis for future “account.” The verb highlights the ordinary human act of saying words, but the context places weight on even the seemingly light or careless kind.

Matthew 12:46 — “While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him.”

Two concurrent acts of speaking shape the scene. Jesus is “speaking to the multitudes,” indicating ongoing public address, while his family arrives “seeking to speak to him,” indicating a desired private exchange. The verb distinguishes a public discourse already in progress from an attempted interruption requesting personal access.

Matthew 12:47 — “One said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside, seeking to speak to you.””

This verse repeats the family’s intention through a messenger’s speech: “One said to him.” Speaking becomes the mechanism by which the situation is communicated to Jesus. The repeated phrase “seeking to speak to you” keeps the focus on access to conversation as the family’s immediate goal.

Matthew 13:3 — “He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow.””

Speaking here is extended instruction. The verb introduces sustained teaching—“many things”—and specifies its mode: “in parables.” The participle “saying” then launches the parable itself, showing how the act of speaking can frame narrative and invite hearers into an illustrative story.

Matthew 13:10 — “The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?””

Speech becomes an object of inquiry. The disciples’ question, “Why do you speak…in parables?” assumes that Jesus’ manner of speaking is deliberate and meaningful, not accidental. The verb points to a recognizable teaching practice that raises questions about purpose and audience.

Matthew 13:13 — “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand.”

Speaking in parables is here presented as a purposeful response to the audience’s condition. The verb stands at the center of a stated rationale: “Therefore I speak…in parables,” linked to a failure of perception and comprehension—“seeing they don’t see…neither do they understand.” Speech is portrayed as adapted in form to the listeners’ receptivity.

Sense and Usage

Across these verses, “to speak” can describe a wide range of verbal activity: a single petition (“a ruler…saying”), spontaneous public reaction (“The multitudes…saying”), compelled testimony under threat (“when they deliver you up”), ongoing address to a crowd (“speaking to the multitudes”), and structured teaching that unfolds as story (“He spoke…in parables”). The same verb comfortably covers brief utterances and extended discourse, private intention to converse (“seeking to speak to him”) and public proclamation.

Several occurrences highlight speech as a sign that can be lost and restored. In Matthew 9:33 and Matthew 12:22, speaking is not merely a choice but an ability: the mute man “spoke” after deliverance and healing. In both scenes the restoration is observable, making speech a public indicator that something has changed in the person’s condition.

Other occurrences emphasize the source and moral freight of speech. Matthew 10:20 assigns the speaking within disciples to “the Spirit of your Father,” portraying speech as possible even when the human speaker would be anxious about what to say. Matthew 12:34 and 12:36 treat speech as revealing what is within and as creating responsibility for what is uttered. In these sayings, the mouth’s speech reflects the heart’s abundance, and “every idle word” becomes accountable—so speaking is simultaneously expressive and consequential.

The parable context (Matthew 13:3, 13:10, 13:13) shows that speaking can be shaped in form—“in parables”—and that the manner of speaking itself can be questioned and explained. Speech is not only the transfer of information but also an intentional mode of address, fitted to hearers who “don’t hear” and “don’t understand.”

Imagery

In these passages, speaking is repeatedly pictured as something that can be heard in the open: a ruler’s plea voiced before Jesus, crowds voicing amazement, disciples voicing questions, and Jesus voicing parables to “the multitudes.” Alongside that public soundscape stands the striking image of a once-mute man who now “spoke,” where restored speech becomes as tangible as restored sight.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).